Breen is Pulitzer winner for U-T

PROFILE

Steve Breen, 38, editorial cartoonist for The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Born in Los Angeles in 1970; grew up in Orange County, the second-oldest of eight children.

Poised to become a high school history teacher when the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey hired him in 1994.

Won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in his first full year as a editorial cartoonist.

Joined the Union-Tribune in 2001.

Lives in Encinitas with his wife, Cathy, and their four children, ages 1 to 10.

SAN DIEGO'S PULITZERS

2009: The Union-Tribune's Steve Breen won in the Editorial Cartooning category.

2006: The Union-Tribune and Copley News Service won in the National Reporting category for exposing the corrupt dealings of Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

1987: Tribune editorial writer Jonathan Freedman won for his editorials on immigration reform.

1979: The staff of The Evening Tribune won for breaking news reporting for its coverage of the PSA jetliner crash in North Park.

Steve Breen, The San Diego Union-Tribune's editorial cartoonist, didn't get to savor the standard celebration of champagne and cheers from his colleagues when he won his second Pulitzer Prize yesterday.

Instead, he was scrounging for his daughter's sandals under a hotel room couch in Hawaii when his editor called with the news. Breen, his wife and four young children were getting ready to fly home after a weeklong vacation on Kauai.

Breen won journalism's most coveted award in 1998 at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey, and yesterday became the 17th multiple-winner of the prize for editorial cartooning. Five members of that fraternity have won three times, so Breen still has something to strive for.

“I thought God was looking after me when I won one Pulitzer, but to win two, it really is mind-blowing,” he said. “I could count 20 guys out there who don't have a Pulitzer who I think are better cartoonists than I am.”

Judges picked Breen “for his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor.”

The 20 cartoons in Breen's Pulitzer portfolio satirize a range of national and international newsmakers and events, from pitcher Roger Clemens to presidential candidates, from the economic meltdown to the Beijing Olympics.

Breen, who turns 39 Sunday, said winning the award for cartoons from 2008 was meaningful. “It was a such an amazing news year,” he said.

“Steve has a lot to be proud of” because his award comes at a time for editorial cartoons “when there has never been better stuff,” said Ted Rall, a cartoonist syndicated through Universal Press Syndicate and the president of the 232-member Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

Rall said the number of daily newspaper editorial cartoonists has dwindled in the last three decades from about 280 to fewer than 100, but that online and alternative weekly cartoonists are accelerating growth for the association.

“Anyone who doubts that cartoons are powerful forms of satire should remember what it was like to see cartoons making fun of their teacher or their principal back in elementary school,” Rall said.

Of Breen, Rall said, “Once the art is right and once the writing is right, he walks away. It's done. And (Charles) Schulz had that. When he did 'Peanuts,' it was minimal, and for most people, minimal is very effective.”

Union-Tribune Editor Karin Winner said Breen's contributions to San Diego are important because his medium can be “the heart and soul of a newspaper.” She said Breen's fairness and integrity are something even his targets acknowledge.

“I think the community needs that comment, and they don't get it any other way,” she said. “It's sort of a badge of honor to have a Steve Breen skewer on their wall.”

Former City Attorney Michael Aguirre, a frequent Breen subject during his four years in office, said Breen “truly has a brilliance for capturing the essence of situations ... and we're fortunate to have him here in San Diego.”

“What offended me the most was when he depicted me as (an overweight) Batman,” Aguirre said. “I was going to sue him for invasion of privacy because my physique was so close to correct.”

Union-Tribune Senior Editor/Opinion William Osborne noted that Breen's work had been repeatedly recognized this year.

“Steve had won the top award from the Overseas Press Club and the National Headliners competition, so the Pulitzer is the icing on an incredibly rich cake,” he said.

“His great gift is to target someone but not be mean-spirited about it,” Kittle said. “This happens with Steve a lot. The people whom he targets in a cartoon, whom he criticizes, they call him asking for the original.”

The 2009 Pulitzer Prizes come amid some of the most trying times in the newspaper industry. Severe advertising losses have resulted in layoffs, pay cuts, bankruptcy filings and the recent closure of the Rocky Mountain News.

Outgoing publisher David Copley, who recently announced the sale of the newspaper to Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity, congratulated Breen by phone. Copley told Breen “how happy he was . . . that David was still here when the Pulitzer was won,” Kittle said.

The award is the second Pulitzer for the Union-Tribune, which in 2006 shared a prize with Copley News Service for coverage of the Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham bribery scandal. The Tribune, San Diego's evening newspaper until it merged with The San Diego Union in 1992, won two prizes.

The Pulitzer Prizes have honored journalism and the arts since 1917. Twenty-two prizes were awarded this year.

The Las Vegas Sun won the most prestigious award, for public service, for exposing a high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip. The New York Times won five Pulitzers, including one for breaking a sex scandal that ended New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's political career.

There were two winners in the local reporting category. The Detroit Free Press was recognized for uncovering misconduct that brought down the city's mayor and sent him to jail, and the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz., was awarded for exploring the negative effects of a popular sheriff's focus on immigration enforcement. The St. Petersburg Times won the national reporting award for “PolitiFact,” a fact-checking initiative in the presidential campaign that examined more than 750 political claims.